In
December 1967, Cetera arrived early for a show to watch a band called The Big Thing. Impressed by their use of a
horn section combined with rock and roll, Cetera left The Exceptions to join The Big Thing within two weeks.
The Big Thing, which soon changed its name to The Chicago Transit Authority (and eventually shortened it to
Chicago), released their self-titled debut album
The Chicago Transit Authority on
Columbia Records in
1969. Cetera sang lead vocal on three of the eleven songs on the album, with his tenor voice complementing the baritone voices of the two other lead singers in the group, keyboardist
Robert Lamm and guitarist
Terry Kath.
His trademark singing style would develop as a result of having to sing for a period of time with a wired-shut jaw after getting into a brawl at a
Los Angeles Dodgers game in
1970.
The follow-up album,
Chicago (sometimes referred to as
Chicago II), vaulted the band to popular status throughout the world. The song "
25 or 6 to 4" was the first major hit single with Cetera singing lead vocals.
Chicago is also notable for featuring Cetera's first songwriting effort, "Where Do We Go From Here?"
As the
1970s progressed, Cetera would become a more prolific songwriter for the group, contributing the hits "
Wishing You Were Here" (#11) and "Happy Man" from the
1974 album
Chicago VII.
His biggest singing and songwriting accomplishment with Chicago came in
1976 with their first worldwide No. 1 single, the ballad "
If You Leave Me Now." Cetera's next composition in
1977, "
Baby, What A Big Surprise" (#4), also became a major hit and cemented the band's status in the late
1970s as a "ballad band."
By the end of the
1970s, with the rise of
disco music, Chicago's popularity declined, culminating in the release of the band's least selling album
Chicago XIV (#71) in
1980. Columbia Records subsequently bought out the remainder of Chicago's contract.
In
1981, Cetera released his first solo album,
Peter Cetera, on
Warner Bros. Records, after personally buying the rights from his previous contract with
Columbia Records, who would not release the project. The album was, subsequently, a commercial failure, which Cetera attributed to Warner Bros.' refusal to promote him as a solo artist out of fear that he would leave Chicago, who had only recently signed with the label.
In
1982, David Foster was brought in as producer and the resulting group effort was
Chicago 16 (#9). The album represented a major comeback for Chicago, and leading the way was the hit single co-written (with Foster) and featured Cetera on lead vocals, "
Hard to Say I'm Sorry," which went to #1 in the charts. The second single, "
Love Me Tomorrow," was also co-written (again with Foster) and sung by Cetera, reaching No. 22 on the singles chart. The third single, "What You're Missing," was yet again sung by Cetera.
When
Chicago 17 was released in
1984, it became the veteran band's most successful selling album in their history, eventually going on to sell over 7 million copies in the United States alone. All four singles released from the album were sung by Cetera, including three which he co-wrote, and all of them charted in the top 20: "
Stay the Night" (#16), "
Hard Habit to Break" (#3), "
You're the Inspiration" (#3) and "
Along Comes a Woman" (#14).
With the advent of the
music video and the growing popularity of
MTV, Cetera became the 'face' and public leader of the longtime faceless band that was Chicago.
